Larijani: US Propping Dictatorship in ME

Service : Politic

TEHRAN, June 9 (ICANA) – Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani says Washington seeks to stabilize its dictatorship in the Middle East as the United States and Israel are fearful of popular uprisings in the region.

Thursday, June 09, 2011 7:48:05 PM

“Events in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen were popular uprisings. People seek to determine their own fate. This issue has caused anxiety and concern for the US and Zionists (Israelis),” Larijani said in a meeting with the speaker of Indonesian House of Representatives, Marzuki Alie, in Jakarta on Thursday.

The top Iranian parliamentarian warned that cooperation of certain dictatorial countries in the region with Western powers would not serve the interests of the Muslim world, and called on Muslim democratic states to “rush to help people in the region.”

“We should be cautious [so] that the US will not take advantage of the uprisings and revolutions (in the region). However, it (the United States) will not be successful as people are awakened,” he stated.

In recent months, a wave of revolutions and anti-government uprisings has swept across the Arab world.

In January, a revolution in Tunisia ended the 23-year rule of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

In February, another revolution led to the ouster of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after three decades of authoritarian rule. Both dictators were firmly backed by the US and most other Western 'democracies.'

Revolutions have also begun in Libya, Yemen, and Bahrain, while anti-government demonstrations have been held in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, and Algeria.

Larijani also pointed out that Iran and Indonesia should make use of great economic potentialities to serve the interests of the two nations.

“The Zionist regime (Israel) and the US have caused problems for the Muslim world and are drawing new plots day by day. Iran and Indonesia should bolster joint cooperation with regard to the recent developments in the world,” he added.

The Iranian Majlis speaker also called for setting a timetable for dispatching Iranian and Indonesian delegations to the Gaza Strip “to break the siege of this region.”

Israel laid an economic siege on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, after Hamas took control of the enclave.

The Israeli-imposed blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80 percent and 60 percent, respectively, in the Gaza Strip.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week Israeli land, sea and air offensive in the impoverished coastal sliver during the winter of 2008-2009. The offensive also inflicted $ 1.6 billion damage on the Gazan economy.

The United Nations has called the Israeli siege illegal and has repeatedly demanded that it be lifted.